Jimmy Branly was born in Havana, Cuba and grew up in a rich musical environment of Cuban flavors. He began his studies at the Conservatory of Music in Havana Adolfo Guzman and ENA (National School of Art). At the young age of 9, his father introduced him to rock music including the band, Deep Purple. It was Deep Purple’s 1972 album "Made in Japan" that captivated Jimmy and drew him into the world of music.

Being introduced to this style of music was of special import since Rock was not a significant genre in Cuba. Jimmy was also exposed to other rock groups like Rush, Led Zeppelin, and the Beatles building upon Jimmy’s desire to transcribe these artists. He expanded his interests when he began listening to jazz greats like John Coltrane, Elvin Jones, Chick Corea, and Keith Jarrett to name a few.

Jimmy’s professional career began at the young age of 15 where he met Hernan Lopez-Nussa from the Afro-Cuban jazz septet “Afrocuba” who could hear that Jimmy was someone he wanted to play with. Jimmy started playing with the original band “Cuarto Espacio” that combined the styles of fusion, rock, and Cuban music. Jimmy actually didn’t start playing Cuban music in Cuba until 1996 with Issac Delgado.

From there, Jimmy moved to NG La Banda. Jimmy continued to evolve in his approach to playing the drums when he worked with Gonzalo Rubalcaba who taught him to play with the more sensitive range of the instrument. Jimmy decided to move to California after being exposed to the rich range of social and musical opportunities that the United States has to offer.

The right hand plays the 6/8 clave pattern - while the left hand hits the 2nd and 5th beat:

from:

The New Method For Afro-Cuban Drumming
Jimmy Branly

“Jimmy Branly is one of my favorite drummers ever! He has been a great inspiration/teacher/drum hero and friend to me for many years now. I am sure that the world of drumming will benefit greatly from the material in this book/audio set!” — Gregg Bissonette

The New Method for Afro-Cuban Drumming features Jimmy’s unique approach to playing contemporary Latin rhythms on the drumset. The material represents a fusion of his experiences growing up in Cuba and shows how he applied this knowledge when he got to the United States and began performing. Everything in this book has practical applications to many styles of music. Jimmy covers:

The 65-minute audio CD contains 97 tracks that demonstrate all of the patterns contained in the book and played at a tempo that is easy to follow. There are also play-along tracks with a band so you can apply the examples in a musical setting and begin to develop a real feel for playing this music.